Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.What is the best title of the passage?
| A．The older a person is, the happier he grows. |
| B．The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is. |
| C．The older a person is, the more clever he grows. |
| D．The older a person is, the more stressed he feels. |
We can learn from the research that _________.
| A．only when people get older, will they feel happier |
| B．older people usually have no worries in their life |
| C．older people are more likely to be thankful in life |
| D．stress levels among the youngest are the highest of all |
According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?
| A．When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences. |
| B．When people get older, they have no young children to care about. |
| C．When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings. |
| D．When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings. |
What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?
| A．Advice to the young people on how to keep happy. |
| B．Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried. |
| C．Advice to the old people on how to live longer. |
| D．Why people will grow happier with their ages. |
What do you think the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is?
| A．A Gallup organization. | B．A university in New York. |
| C．A popular science magazine. | D．A research institution |
Over a hundred years ago people in London were surprised to see a very unusual boat come sailing up the Thames River.The boat was eighty feet long flat-bottomed,with big wooden eyes on both sides in the front and was colorfully painted at the back.
People came to know that it was a sailing boat from Fuzhou in distant China.The boat had sailed round the Cape of Good Hope(好望角) up the western coast of Africa,and finally to England.It had covered fifteen thousand miles—more than half of the distance round the world.
Although it was unexpected,the Chinese were warmly welcomed.The boat carried goods such as silk and tea as well as a number of gifts from the Emperor of China for the Queen of England.
People had always mistakenly thought of the Chinese as a people not used to sea.However,from centuries of trading and sailing in dangerous seas,the Chinese had learned how to build good boats and sailed them well.The coming of this sailing boat to London proved once again that the Chinese could sail to distant countries in the world.The boat was considered unusual because _________.
| A．it was a small wooden boat |
| B．it carried Chinese silk and tea |
| C．it had traveled fifteen thousand miles |
| D．it looked strange in several ways |
According to this article,which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The distance round the earth measures less than thirty thousand miles. |
| B．The Chinese Emperor gave silk and tea to the English Queen as gifts. |
| C．The Chinese boat came to London by accident. |
| D．The Chinese people were not good at sailing in dangerous seas. |
The boat reached London by sailing _________.
| A．round the southern end of Africa |
| B．up the west coast of England |
| C．through the Arctic Ocean |
| D．round Asia and Europe |
.The writer wants to prove that a long time ago the Chinese _________.
| A．carried silk,tea and other goods to England |
| B．could reach many parts of the world by sea |
| C．could sail along the Thames River |
| D．surprised Londoners with an unusual boat |
For nearly a century before there was such a thing as a space program,a view of space was possible.People could see full views of the Moon,explore Mars(探测火星),and study the outer space beauty.All of this was made possible by a small group of artist-astronomers(天文艺术家) who worked to show people how other worlds in space might look.
Lucien Rudaux,a French artist,was the first to use his artistic ability and his knowledge of astronomy in art.His paintings show a mixture of skilled observations,brilliant imagination and careful attention.As a result,many of his works have come surprisingly close to actual conditions on distant planets.His painting of Mars included moonlike craters(火山口) that were first photographed by the astronauts in 1965.His 1930 painting of a dust storm looks remarkably like a photograph of a storm taken by the astronauts in 1976.
The artist-astronomers,including Rudaux,made people interested in outer space by painting what turned out to be exact portraits of the planets.The passage tells us _________.
| A．the surprising exactness of space artists | B．the popular success of Lucien Rudaux |
| C．the imaginations of great artists | D．the likeness between the Moon and Mars |
According to the passage,artist-astronomers spent their lives _________.
| A．exploring the planets | B．studying paintings |
| C．painting the planets | D．producing spaceships |
The works of Lucien Rudaux are a mixture of _________.
| A．astronomy and mathematics | B．astronomy and painting |
| C．photograph and art | D．fact and imagination |
In 1965,the astronauts photographed _________.
| A．a spaceship | B．a planet | C．craters on the Moon | D．a painting |
It came with devastating force,a natural disaster of strange intensity that shocked the world and killed tens of thousands.The waters have now receded,but disease and food and water shortages trouble a number of countries around the Indian Ocean.Millions of survivors face serious problems.
The number of survivors in need of food aid after the Indian Ocean disaster has climbed to 5 million people.They stretch from Somalia to Thailand,and the figure could rise further,the United Nations has said.
Relief teams hope to reach all of the estimated 700 000 hungry in Sri Lanka within three more days.It could take longer before enough food aid gets to the nearly 1 million people in need in hard-to-reach parts of Indonesia.Another serious problem is the need for purified water.
Although aid had poured in from all over the world to the disaster areas,“Logistics is the big problem here—just getting the stuff out to people who need it,”said Ron Libby,emergency management specialist at the USA agency for International Development.
Relief efforts are hindered by the difficulty of delivering aid to the more than 1000 islands scattered across hundreds of kilometers of ocean.
For those who survived the tsunami's force,disease is now the No.1 problem.Five million people are short of water,food and basic sanitation across the region.World Health Organization(WHO) crisis chief David Navarro said 50 000 more people could die from disease and other causes,as has been the case in previous humanitarian emergencies.
WHO said it had already received a handful of reports of malaria(疟疾) and dengue fever(登革热) and hundreds of reports of diarrhea(腹泻) and infected wounds.It said millions of water purification tablets had been sent to Asia,along with sanitation engineers to rebuild water sanitation infrastructure.
Psychologists are warning that mental health problems caused by the tsunami could prove harder to resolve than the physical damage.
Some survivors say they are plagued by recurring nightmares about walls of water.Many locals are afraid to return to beachside homes.Officials also warn that suicide rates could rise dramatically as parents struggle with guilt at losing children.
Psychologists estimate that 20 to 30 per cent of people who face traumatic events eventually develop symptoms,such as alcohol abuse,lack of concentration at work and an inability to develop close relationships.
Although the Thai Government has offered to build temporary beachside housing,many refugee families are refusing to come down from the hills.Others are afraid to go back to jobs on the sea.
Over 150 000 people were killed by the tsunami,but hundreds and thousands more have been left with no means to earn a living.
In the village of Akirapettai in India,all that is left is the twisted wreckage of the fishing fleet.Dakshina Murti,a fisherman,not only lost three family members,but also lost his boats,his nets,everything.
“Everything's gone,”he says.With no government aid so far,all he has is a wreck.There are several million people who suffered the same experience.Homes have been destroyed,as well as wharves,docks,and sheds.
For now,rebuilding the economy remains a distant concept.This passage is mainly about _________that happened around the Indian Oceans.
| A．the causes of the tsunami | B．the result after the tsunami |
| C．the sign of the tsunami | D．the warning of the tsunami |
According to what the United Nations has said,the number of survivors in need of food aid after the disaster _________.
| A．is not more than 5 million | B．is less than 5 million |
| C．has reached 5 million | D．won't reach 5 million |
From the passage we learn that _________ is the most serious problem for the time being.
| A．disease | B．food | C．water | D．house |
The passage tells us that such a disaster,as tsunami will cause diseases and _________ as well.
| A．Dengue fever | B．diarrhea | C．Malaria | D．mental health problem |
GET YOUR DEGREE AT HOME!
Have you ever wondered what a Degree might be worth to you in your job or career(事业)? It means a lot of Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $10,000 more in yearly earnings than those with just a High School Diploma(毕业证).
Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today’s growing fields-without having to go to college full time. With Harcourt, you study at home, in your spare time-so you don’t have to give up your present job while you train for a better one. Choose from exciting majors like Business Management, Accounting, Dressmaking ＆Design, Bookkeeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engineering, and more! Your training includes everything you need! Books, lessons, learning aids-even professional-quality tools and equipment-everything you need to master your training and more ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition(学费) price you pay. Your education is nationally recognized! Nearly 2, 000 American companies-including General Electric, IBM, Mobile, General Motors, Ford, and many others-have used our training for their employees. If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employees in your area will, too!
Earn your degree in as little as two years! Get a career diploma in just six months! The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have no experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today’s hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy. Prepare for promotions(提升), pay raises, even start a business of your own! Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at home training!
Simply fill in your name and address on the coupon(票券) above. Then write in the name and number of the one program you’re most interested in, and mail it today. We’ll rush your free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities(机会) in the field you’ve chosen. Act today!
Mail coupon today! Or call the number below 1-800-372-1589. Call any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. www. Harcourt-learning. com E-mail：Harcourt＠learning. com. This advertisement aims at calling on people to ________.
| A．attend full-time universities |
| B．work part time to further their education |
| C．improve their education at home to get better jobs |
| D．earn their degrees in different ways that suit them |
Which of the following is NOT clearly mentioned in this advertisement?
| A．The way how you will get your degree. |
| B．Tuition price. |
| C．The hot fields you will be preparing yourself for. |
| D．The length of time it will take you to get a degree. |
What does the writer of this ad intend to say by naming General Electric, IBM, Ford, etc.?
| A．To show that their training is widely used in the country. |
| B．To show that the training program is fully supported by famous companies in the U. S. |
| C．To prove the value of their training in every area. |
| D．To show the importance of getting recognized by the most famous companies. |
It seems to the writer that the greatest attraction for people to take their training is______.
| A．its convenience |
| B．the degree’s nation-wide recognition |
| C．the economic benefit(利益) it will bring about |
| D．the hot fields the training will help people to enter |
How many ways are mentioned in the ad for people to get in touch with the Harcourt Learning Direct?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. But for the people who work in it, Silicon Valley (硅谷) is more than just a high technology hothouse. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?
But something is happening to the children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. Their proud parents watch and smile as they take their first steps and speak their first words. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.
They call it the “curse of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condition is autism（孤独症）. It used to be thought that autism was a mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a disease transmitted genetically (遗传). It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all.
But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome (综合症) is connected with autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or systems but have no social skills, which makes Asperger’s sufferers into excellent computer professionals. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents in Silicon Valley seem to be developing serious autism.
There is little anyone can do. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found．“It may be that autistics are essentially (本质上) different from normal people, but that these differences make them valuable for the evolution (进化) of the human race,” says Dr Kirk Wilhelm of the University of California．“To remove the genes (基因) for autism could be terrible.
It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.A person who has autism usually _____.
| A．has difficulty in speaking | B．loses communication skills |
| C．has difficulty in working | D．hates people around |
Which of the following best explains “curse of Silicon Valley”?
| A．The children are brought up in Silicon Valley. |
| B．Autism is just a result of working in Silicon Valley. |
| C．The children suffer from autism due to their parents in Silicon Valley. |
| D．Autism makes the children in Silicon Valley unable to communicate. |
Some people think that no cure of autism should be found because ______.
| A．autism cannot be cured | B．autism isn’t a disease |
| C．harm will be done to the children | D．autism is necessary in some way |
What does the writer seem to feel about the children of Silicon Valley?
| A．It’s a pity that they cannot have a normal life. |
| B．They are the pride of the human race. |
| C．They are sure to have a bright future. |
| D．It’s likely that they will have a normal life. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号